The invention pertains to circuit constructions comprising quantum dots and/or quantum anti-dots, and also pertains to methods of forming regions of differing composition over substrates.
Nanodevices are structures having dimensions measured in nanometers. Nanotechnology is a field associated with formation of nanodevices, and is a growing field expected to make significant impacts in diverse subject areas, including, for example, biology, chemistry, computer science and electronics.
Nanodevices include, for example, quantum dots and anti-dots. A quantum dot is a particle of matter in which addition or removal of an electron changes its properties in some useful way.
Quantum dots and anti-dots can have numerous applications. For instance, quantum dots and anti-dots can significantly increase the density of electronic devices, which can increase performance of the devices. Quantum dots and anti-dots may be particularly useful in high-density memory and storage media. Specifically, a quantum dot or anti-dot can be incorporated into data storage devices. If the position of an electron within a quantum dot or anti-dot changes a state of the dot or anti-dot, the quantum dot or anti-dot can represent a byte of data.
Although various techniques have been developed for forming nanodevices, there remains a need to develop methodologies which can enable large-scale fabrication of the devices. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop new techniques for fabrication of nanodevices.
Another aspect of the prior art is that it is frequently desirable to form specific patterns of materials over substrates. Photolithography is commonly utilized to form the patterns, but photolithography has limitations imposed by, among other things, the wavelength of light utilized, which limits the minimum feature size which can be formed with photolithographic processing. Accordingly, it is desired to develop new methods which can be utilized for forming patterns of materials, and it is particularly desired to develop new methods which can be utilized to form features having smaller dimensions than can be practically formed with photolithography.
In one aspect, the invention encompasses a circuit construction. The construction comprises a substrate and a substantially crystalline electrically insulative material over the substrate. A plurality of openings extend within the substantially crystalline electrically insulative material, and an electrically conductive material is within the openings and corresponds to quantum dots.
In one aspect, the invention encompasses methods of forming regions of differing composition over a substrate. A material is formed over the substrate. A pattern of at least one substantially amorphous region and at least one substantially crystalline region is formed within the material. The material has a first composition. The at least one substantially crystalline region defines at least one first region over the substrate, and the at least one substantially amorphous region defines at least one second region over the substrate. The at least one substantially amorphous region is selectively replaced relative to the at least one substantially crystalline region of the material, and is replaced with a second composition which is different from the first composition. After the selective replacement of the at least one substantially amorphous region of the material, the defined at least one first region has the first composition and the defined at least one second region has the second composition.